Danny Crossman – September 29, 2020
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Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(When are we going to see a trick play? It’s been three weeks. I’m ready to see some magic out there.) – “(laughter) Every week it depends on how the game’s going. We’ll see what happens in the future. We keep putting ourselves in good positions; but at some point, we’ll see what the future holds.”
(We talked about this a little bit last time, but can you walk us through your thoughts on how kick returns are becoming more rare and rare in today’s NFL game with them moving up the yardage? We spoke to WR Jakeem Grant yesterday and he sent a challenge to all kickers to let him return one and not to kick it nine yards deep deep.) – “(laughter) I think it’s a combination of things. Obviously the kickers are more powerful; they are stronger. I think especially earlier in the year, you see a much higher number of touchbacks with the heat, with the humidity or what have you based on where you’re playing around the league. I think some other teams are maybe just getting a little bit more comfortable with exactly who you have with your coverage units without having played preseason games. Just getting a little bit better of an idea of exactly who you have and what you have. Then you couple that with the amount of injuries you’ve seen around the league. People forget that it may not be the special teams player that’s injured, but when you lose an offensive and defensive player, the domino effect happens and now all of a sudden you lose two or three guys offensively or defensively and if they’re not linemen, those guys are playing roles in the kicking game. Now all of a sudden you have two or three more guys having to play offense and defense, so you have to protect those guys a little bit. I think like always, as the season goes on and the weather cools down and the ball doesn’t travel as far, I think you’ll see more returns as the season goes on.”
(Obviously just three games, but who are a few players who have done well on the coverage teams?) – “I think Sam Eguavoen has done a nice job. I think we’ve got to be more consistent as a whole. I think Andrew Van Ginkel has shown up. I think just overall, when you look at the whole unit, we just have to be more consistent in everything we do, and that’s going to come with time. I think if you talk to any coach, no matter what phase it is, getting that consistency and that common where we’re not as much playing the play but we’re playing the scheme, then we’ll be in better shape.”
(Football Outsiders has you ranked as the No. 2 special teams unit in the league and the No. 1 is Seattle. Your thoughts on the matchup this weekend of maybe the two best special teams in the league?) – “I think they do a really nice job. When you look at their special teams, I think it is a small fraction of what they are as a team and how they play the game. They play fast, they play physical they are aggressive and they have a good nucleus of players. I think anytime you talk about playing well in the kicking game, it always starts with your specialists. I think obviously the punter is having an outstanding year and has the ability to flip the field when they’ve been stalled or backed up, and put them in good field position going forward. They’ve only had to kick one field goal because of how they are playing offensively; but then Jason (Myers) has done a nice job with his kickoffs. They’ve got two quality return players. The biggest thing is they have a nice nucleus of veteran and young core players. When you put that all together, it gives you an opportunity for success. They are well coached, they are aggressive and it’s going to be a heck of a challenge.”
(Following up on that, I wanted to ask you about P Matt Haack and the season he’s having. He has 12 punts and he’s already got five inside the 20. What are you seeing out of him? I’m curious, do you compare him to other punter around the league? Where do you see him ranking?) – “To answer your second question, I don’t really compare guys because the situation is the biggest thing that puts a lot of those things into focus. We’ve done a nice job moving the ball, where we’ve been punting the football in terms of location, field positionally, gives you more opportunities for those plus-50 balls. Then the down and distance you’re punting the football in has a little bit of a determining factor of what type of looks you get. It’s hard to compare one thing to the next because there are so many things that are involved with what you end up with in terms of down and distance and field position based on what punt you’re able to get and what looks you’re getting from the return/defensive stay looks.”
(Your top two most played special teams players are S Kavon Frazier and LB Kamu Grugier-Hill at No. 2. I want to ask you about Kamu. How much did know about him before he signed here, and what can you tell us about him as a person? We don’t know him particularly well. Can you see his role expanding? It looks like he’s playing more on defense. Do you worry about the number of snaps if he plays a ton on defense and on special teams?) – “That’s always a concern, to find that balance and that mix; but I obviously knew a lot about Kamu before he came here. He was a very productive player in Philadelphia. High energy. No moment is too big for him. Wants to be in there and wants to make the play in the critical situation. We’re very happy with the addition of Kamu, and we’re very happy with how he’s playing. Hopefully you’re going to see him continue to improve and play better as the season goes on. I’m glad he’s on our football team.”
(How important is WR Mack Hollins to your unit and how has he played?) – “Very important. Like all of those guys, any of those guys you see playing three or four phases, they are critical to what we’re doing. They are the catalysts, they are the nucleus, they are the leaders of our group. That whole group of players, when you see guys playing three or four phases for us, we have a high degree of trust in them and we need a high degree of performance from those players.”
